In Tuesday’s (9/25) Chicago Tribune, Mark Caro and Heather Gillers report, “They entered the negotiating room in the Chicago Symphony Association’s lawyer’s office at 2 p.m. Monday, and by about 6:45 p.m. a tentative agreement had been reached in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first musicians strike in 21 years. The orchestra announced shortly before 8 p.m. that the CSO musicians and management had reached an accord for a three-year collective bargaining agreement, to take effect retroactively on Sept. 17. The previous contract expired Sept. 16. Both parties—the Chicago Federation of Musicians and the CSO Association board—must ratify the contract. CSO spokeswoman Rachelle Roe said ratification would take place ‘in the coming days,’ and the orchestra would make no statements and reveal no contract details until then. CSO bassist Stephen Lester, representing the musicians as chairman of the Orchestra Members Committee, said the orchestra will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday, before its 10 a.m. rehearsal with music director Riccardo Muti, to ratify the deal. … ‘This was an extremely difficult process, and it took hard work on both sides, but we’ve reached an agreement we can live with,’ said bassoonist William Buchman, who was on the negotiating committee. … The musicians declared their strike Saturday shortly before that evening’s subscription concert, which was abruptly canceled. The strike became the latest in a series of labor disputes among big-city American orchestras.”
Posted September 25, 2012
